If Plainview’s football scrimmage against Tascosa Friday night at Greg Sherwood Memorial Bulldog Stadium is any indication, the Bulldogs are poised to provide some excitement on both sides of the ball this season.

Plainview held its own against Class 6A Tascosa and even got the better of their opponents throughout much of the evening.

Providing some of the excitement was running back Warren Flye. The speed burner ripped off a 55-yard touchdown run on the third play of a 12-minute live quarter the teams played to conclude the scrimmage. Earlier, in the portion where each team ran 10 plays and later, when each team ran eight plays, Flye motored down the sideline for a 65-yard touchdown run. A 60-yard run to the end zone was called back due to a penalty.

Senior quarterback Paxstyn Oldfield also got into the act with a 32-yard run for a touchdown during the earlier portion of the scrimmage.

Plainview coach Ryan Rhoades said after the scrimmage that the big plays are a result of 11 players all doing their jobs on the field.

“We had some big plays. And when you have big plays that means everybody’s doing their job,” Rhoades said. “The line did a great job opening holes. But, ultimately, it’s 11 guys. On Paxstyn’s long run, (sophomore receiver) Braxton Riddley came back and made a big block. Initially, the line opened the hole. That’s where it all starts every play. But at the same time, we understand that there is no small role. The back side receiver or the play side receiver, there’s no small role whether it’s a pass or a run. They’re there to do their job. And when they do their job, big things happen.”

The defense also had its moments, especially during the early part of the scrimmage. At one point, Tascosa drove the ball inside Plainview’s 20-yard line, but Bulldog defensive back Quenion Hines stepped in front of a receiver and intercepted a pass at the goal line to thwart the scoring attempt.

Plainview took an early 8-0 lead during the live quarter on Flye’s touchdown run and a two-point pass from Oldfield to Domingo Saucedo. However, Tascosa rebounded with a defensive touchdown and then a 17-yard scoring pass with just five seconds left for a 16-8 advantage.

But Rhoades wasn’t concerned about the final score. He viewed the scrimmage as a chance to evaluate his team. And he did just that.

“I think we had the upper hand, for the most part,” Rhoades said. “As I told our kids, this is a glorified practice. And it was our best practice of the year. We’re playing varsity players for upwards of three hours, and that’s what you want out of a good, hard practice. Our kids responded and our kids played hard.”

Rhoades said during the regular season he and his coaches will develop a game plan each week for each opponent. That wasn’t the case for the scrimmage.

“Our coaches didn’t game plan or scheme Tascosa for more than 15 minutes because we knew it was a scrimmage,” Rhoades said. “We knew that we’re not here to win a scrimmage. We’re here to evaluate personnel, see who wants to compete and who doesn’t. And I think our kids responded well.”

Rhoades said he expects his team to provide many entertaining moments throughout the season.

“We’ll be an exciting team this year, on both sides of the ball,” the coach said. “We did some really good things, offensively. We did some really good things, defensively. And when you can do that and spend very little time on an opponent, you feel good about that. We’re trying to get ready for the first game and this was a great practice to do that. Tascosa’s got a really good team. It was good for us. It was good for them. And I think it was really productive.”

One aspect of the game Rhoades stressed heading into the scrimmage was for his team to play physical on both sides of the ball. They seemed to do just that.

“I really believe they did a great job,” Rhoades said. “If we set out to win scrimmages, I think we probably could have.”

Still, Rhoades said, the scrimmage was a practice and not a regular-season game.

“Teams that want to be great keep their eyes on what matters,” Rhoades said. “We want to get better and we want to focus on the games. And this was a practice. Sometimes, our kids think this is a game. But you don’t win or lose a scrimmage. It’s about competing with your teammates to know who can play, who needs to play and who may not need to play.

“Our kids all responded and competed really hard and it will be up to us to grade them and see who did well, where technique mistakes can happen and be corrected. My impression is they had a great effort and a great evening.”

The Bulldogs open their regular season at 7 p.m. Thursday against Randall at Kimbrough Stadium in Canyon.